Applicator for tubular bandage



Sept. 9, 1958 c. A. HANINGTON 2,851,034

APPLICATOR FOR TUBULAR BANDAGE Filed April 24, 1956 particular part of the body.

.APPLICATOR FOR 'BANDAGE Charles A. Harrington, Freeport, N. Y., as's'ignor to The SchollMfg. Co., Inc., 'Chicago, 11]., a corporation of New York Application April=24, 1956, Serial No. 580,405

5 Claims. (Cl. l28 l57) manner, is an" improvement upon the applicator illustrated in the E. G. Hendrickson 'et al. Patent No. 2,456,507, issued December 1'4, 1948. Other appli'catorshave also been 'developed'forthe proper placing oftubularbandages to various parts of the body, such as fingers, toes, arms, legs, and even the headgand the instant invention may be made in various-sizessoas to 'fun'ction'for the application of bandages to substantially any part ofth'e body that may be temporarily inserted within an applicator during the fixing of the bandage. The applicator is'in-gene'ral :of

- altype which telescopes over the portion of "the body'to nited tates Patent 0 which the bandage is to be attached and dur-in'g the 7 application of the bandage, the applicator will move a plurality of times in 'a'telescopic relationship over the In certain instances applicators heretofore developed vhave proven objectionable, particularly in regard with the application of small bandages suchas over the fingers or toes, owing' to "the fact that the applicator ,itself would contact thewounded portion of thebody adding'to the pain and aggravation of the :patient,and possibly aggravaportion of the applicator that passes over a part of the body.

Another object of the i'nvention is'the provisio'nof an applicator .for atubular bandage, comprising a plurality of spaced resilient fingers normally tending to further spread, "with adjustable means movable to reduce the *spreadin'gof thefingers or to maintain the fin ers in substantially parallel relationship, depending upon what is desired at the time of I the particular application.

Another object of .the invention'is the provision of an applicator of the character set 'forth herein having a plurality of resilient fingers inherently tendin'g :to spread, with simple'slidable'meansfor adjusting thespread of the fingers at any time desired, and even..dun'ng the applicationof a bandage.

It is also a feature of this invention to provide an applicator for a tubular bandage comprising a-plurality of resilient wire skeleton fingers in general defining a tubular socket over which a tubular bandage may be together. This bending of the wire providesa sh providing a shoulder as at 10 wherein .fth'e" ar'cuate ice '2 drawn and into which apart ofthe body ;is --te1nporaril,y received during the application of the bandage, the-fingers being joined together only at one endof the applicator-.ji.

A further .feature of the-invention residesrin ythe provision of an applicator for a tubular bandage,'which ais simple in construction, and highly economical to manuand illustrating the operation of the applicator;

Figure 3 is a transverse vertical sectional view. taken substantially as indicated by the 1i1'1III-III'D Riga-.1, looking in the direction of the arrows; I

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view .through' the applicator taken substantially as indicated by theline IV-IV of Fig. 2;

Figure Sis a side view of a section of tubular bandage of the type with which the applicator .may be used;

Figure .6 is a transverse vertical :sectional view through the bandage takensubstantially .as indicated .by .the line VI- VL of Fig. 5; and

Figure 7 .is a fragmentary elevational view illustrating the use of the applicator.

As shown on the drawings:

For purposes of convenience, theIillustratedenibodiment of the instant. invention is illustrated .ina si'zeand shape highly desirable for 'use .in' applying .a finger bandage, and the invention will so bedescribedherein.

, However, it must be distinctly remembered that the device {having a rounded and closed outer end asindicated'atfi. The two side sections of Wireforming the loo'p are'ior'olught together into a shank portion 7 withbo'th reaches of Wire in juxtaposition, preferably side 'byside and "substantially lder formation as indicated at '8 in each of't'he wireil'en'gths.

At the rear "end of theshank section 7,fb oth wires .are given a shaping to cause an inherent. tendency ofithe fingers'to further spread. In the illustrateds'howinfgfthis shaping wis-in the-form of anoutwardarcas indicate "9,

at the minimum spread adjustment.

4. Then, the two pairs of opposed fingers would be turned at right angles to each other, and the cross connections 11 of each pair soldered, welded, brazed, or otherwise secured together as at 12. Thus, an integral unit is formed consisting of a plurality of elongated resilient fingers circumferentially spaced, and inherently tending to further spread away from each other to the extent allowed by the formations 9.

In order to efiect a desired adjustment at any time as to the amount of spread of the fingers 1, 2, 3 and 4, a simple arrangement has been provided. This merely consists of applying a ring 13 over the shank portion 7 of the respective fingers. As seen clearly in Figs. 1 and 2, the ring embraces these shank portions 7 and is slidable between the shoulders 10 and the shoulders 8 defined on each finger. Looking at Fig. 2, the full line showing with the ring forward or toward the open end of the applicator against the shoulders 8, it will be seen that the fingers are maintained in substantially parallel relationship or When the ring is moved to the shoulders 10 as indicated by dotted lines in this figure, the fingers are permitted to spread apart to the maximum distance. Obviously, any intermediate position of the ring results in an intermediate spread adjustment.

' The instant invention is preferably used with a tubular bandage of the character shown in Figs. and 6 and indicated by numeral 14- This bandage may preferably be of a knitted gauze or equivalent material, and is inherently stretchable and elastic to a material degree, at least laterally. In the most simple form of application, a length of bandage is selected which' is substantially twice as long as the portion of the finger to be covered. This entire length of bandage is drawn over the fingers of the applicator as seen in Fig. 7, and the forward position of the ring 13 facilitate the ease for placing the bandage on the applicator since it holds the fingers at their minimum spread position. The applicator with the bandage thereon is then telescoped over the finger 15, the edge of the bandage held against the finger, and the applicator withdrawn retaining the remainder of the bandage upon it. Then the applicator may be twisted as indicated at 16 and the applicator again telescoped over the finger, retroverting the portion of the bandage on the applicator over that already on the finger. On the inward movement of the applicator the remainder of the bandage will be applied to the finger, and the applicator, clean of bandage, may be readily withdrawn from the applied bandage. During this operation, the ring 13 may be moved as desired in order to effect the spread of the fingers and the stretching of the bandage.

Of course, in some instances, it is desirable to provide a bandage in three or four layers upon the finger, and in that event a longer length of bandage is utilized, and

the applicator operated over the finger a sufiicient number of times to utilize all of the bandage, or a sufiicient number of times to effect the desired type of bandage. With the instant invention, since the fingers are of the skeleton type, and the spread of the fingers may be adjusted at will, there is little or no likelihood of the applicator contacting the injured part of the body, if reasonable care is exercised in its use. By way of example, if the injury is lengthwise of the finger, the applicator may be rotated relatively to the finger so that the injury will be disposed in the space between adjacent fingers. Otherways of manipulating the applicator will be apparcut to one skilled in the art.

From the foregoing, it is apparent that I have provided a simple form of applicator for a tubular bandage, which applicator is light in weight and economical to manufacture. The applicator may be used with ease and facility, both in applying the bandage to the applicator and then in applying the bandage to the body with the aid of the applicator, and tension'upon the bandage and the degree of spread of the fingers may be altered at will even during the application of the bandage.

It will be understood that modifications and variations may be effected without departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the present invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. An applicator for applying a tubular bandage to a part of the body, comprising two pairs of wire skeleton fingers of substantially the same size and configuration, each pair of fingers formed from a single piece of spring wire with the ends thereof abutted together, the two pair of opposed fingers arranged at right angles to each other, each pair of fingers comprising looped end portions and a common shank portion formed therebetween, said shank portions bent forming each pair of fingers into a U-shaped member to cause said fingers to inherently tend to separate radially, the shank portions between said bends maintained in closely adjacent relationship crossing and joining each other intermediate the bends therein to form a unitary structure and a single ring slidable on said shank portions adjacent the looped end portions to hold the fingers under tension.

2. An applicator for applying a tubular bandage to a part of the body, comprising a plurality of pairs of wire skeleton fingers, each pair of fingers formed from a single piece of spring wire with the ends thereof abutted together, each pair of fingers comprising looped end portions and a common shank portion formed therebetween, said shank portions bent forming each pair of fingers into a U-shaped member to cause said fingers to inherently tend to separate radially, and the shank portions between .said bends crossing and joining each other intermediate the bends therein to form a unitary structure and circumscribing means slidable on the shank portions adjacent the looped end portions to selectively hold the fingers against separation.

3. An applicator for applying a tubular bandage to a part of a patients body, comprising a plurality of pairs of elongated spaced resilient wire fingers over which a tubular bandage may be drawn and inside of which fingers a part of the patients body may be received while applying the bandage, said pairs of fingers adapted to carry a length of tubular bandage thereon whereby the applicator may be twisted and by retroverting the same over a part of a patients body to dispense the bandage in successive layers on such part, said pairs of fingers embodying looped end portions and a double strand shank portion intermediate said loops, said shank portion of each pair of fingers being rigidly joined together at their mid-section, each pair of fingers formed into substantially U, shape configuration by arcuate bends applied to the shank portions thereof, said arcuate bends causing the fingers to tend to separate further in the free portions thereof, and a loop embracing and sliding upon all of said shank portions adjacent said looped end portions to selectively hold the fingers substantially parallel.

4. An applicator for applying a tubular bandage to a part of the body, comprising two pairs of elongated wire skeleton fingers of substantially the same size and configuration with their shank portions rigidly secured together, said fingers being circumferentially spaced and arranged at right angles to each other and in general defining a tubular socket over which a bandage may be drawn and into which a part of the body is received when the'bandage is applied, each pair of skeleton fingers formed solely of and from a single continuous piece of wire formed with the ends thereof abutted together and forming a double strand section of wire, each section of pair, the shank portion of each pair of fingers crossing each other and joined together at the junction of the transverse connection sections, an arcuate bend in each of the shank portions at the junction of each of the transverse connection sections and the outwardly extending portions thereof to cause the fingers to tend to separate further in the free portions thereof and a one piece circular ring slidably mounted upon all of said finger shank portions to hold said fingers parallel with each other.

5. An applicator for applying a tubular bandage to a part of the body, comprising two pairs of elongated wire skeleton fingers rigidly secured together, said fingers being circumferentially spaced and in general defining a tubular socket over which a bandage may be drawn and into which a part of the body is received when the bandage is applied, each pair of skeleton fingers formed solely of and from a single continuous piece of wire formed with the ends thereof abutted together and forming a double strand section of wire, each section of wire providing an open elongated loop of wire at the opposite ends thereof with a closed common shank portion intermediate each of said loops, said shank portion bent to shank portions at the junction of each of the transverse connection sections and the outwardly extending portions thereof to cause the fingers to tend to separate further in the free portions thereof, and'a movable circular loop embracing and slidable on the exterior surfaces of all of said outwardly extending shank portions of the fingers to selectively hold the loop portions of the fingers substantially parallel with each other.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 776,348 Parsons Nov. 29, 1904 1,360,614 Berry Nov. 30, 1920 FOREIGN PATENTS Australia Oct. 12, 1955 

